Patentable/Patents/US-6930939
US-6930939

Semiconductor memory device having hierarchical structure of data input/output line and precharge method thereof

PublishedAugust 16, 2005
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

A semiconductor memory device having a hierarchical structure of data input/output lines and a precharge method thereof. A precharge method in a semiconductor memory device having a hierarchical structure includes precharging the global input/output line pairs with half of a memory cell array voltage, and precharging the local input/output line pairs with the half of the memory cell array voltage.

Patent Claims
7 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. A precharge method in a semiconductor memory device having a hierarchical structure in which bitline pairs are connected with local input/output line pairs, and the local input/output line pairs are connected to global input/output line pairs, the method comprising: precharging the global input/output line pairs with the half of a memory cell array voltage; and precharging the local input/output line pairs with the half of the memory cell array voltage.

2

2. A semiconductor memory device having a hierarchical structure, comprising: one pair of bitlines connected to a memory cell; one pair of local input/output lines; a column selector connected between the one pair of bitlines and the one pair of local input/output lines, for selecting a corresponding bitline in response to a column selection signal; a local input/output line sense amplifier connected between the one pair of local input/output lines, for sensing and amplifying data of the one pair of local input/output lines in response to a local input/output line sense amplifier drive signal; one pair of global input/output lines crosswise connected to the one pair of local input/output lines; and a write driver for receiving the data and loading the data on the one pair of global input/output lines, and a global input/output line precharge part for precharging the one pair of global input/output lines with a half of a memory cell array voltage in response to a global input/output line precharge signal, wherein the one pair of local input/output lines is precharged with and dependently on the precharge by which the global input/output lines was precharged.

3

3. The device of claim 2 , further comprising: a bank selector connected between the one pair of global input/output lines, for selecting a corresponding bank in response to a bank selection signal; a global input/output sense amplifier connected between the one pair of global input/output lines, for sensing and amplifying the data of the one pair of global input/output lines; and a sense amplifier global input/output line precharge part connected between the bank selector and the global input/output sense amplifier, for precharging one pair of sense amplifier global input/output lines with the half voltage of the memory cell array voltage in response to a sense amplifier global input/output line precharge signal.

4

4. The device of claim 2 , wherein each of the precharge parts includes: an NMOS transistor connected between the one pair of global input/output lines and driven by the global input/output line precharge signal; and two NMOS transistors connected in series between the one pair of global input/output lines and driven by the global input/output line precharge signal, for providing the one pair of global input/output lines with the half voltage of the memory cell array voltage.

5

5. A semiconductor memory device having a hierarchical structure, comprising: one pair of bitlines connected to a memory cell; one pair of local input/output lines connected to the one pair of bitlines; one pair of global input/output lines crosswise connected to the one pair of local input/output lines; and a global input/output line precharge part for precharging the one pair of global input/output lines with a half voltage of a memory cell array voltage in response to a global input/output line precharge signal, wherein the one pair of local input/output lines is precharged with and dependently on a voltage by which the global input/output lines were precharged.

6

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the precharge part precharges the one pair of local input/output lines with the half voltage of the memory cell array voltage when precharging one pair of global input/output lines.

7

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the precharge part includes: an NMOS transistor connected between the one pair of global input/output lines and driven by the global input/output line precharge signal; and two NMOS transistors connected in series between the one pair of global input/output lines and driven by the global input/output line precharge signal, for providing the one pair of global input/output lines with the half voltage of the memory cell array voltage.

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Patent Metadata

Filing Date

September 12, 2003

Publication Date

August 16, 2005

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Cite as: Patentable. “Semiconductor memory device having hierarchical structure of data input/output line and precharge method thereof” (US-6930939). https://patentable.app/patents/US-6930939

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